ALEXANDER OF MACEDON

Alexander the Great 356-323 BC, son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias. Aristotle was his tutor and thus Alexander was influenced by the Hellenic theories. After the death of Philip II, Alexander of Macedon subjugated Hellas, and in Corinth, proclaimed himself a leader of the Greeks in the war against the Persians. After he conquered the Hellespont, he went to Anatolia where he gained number of victories over the Persian king Darius III. He captured the Phoenician city of Tyre and made for Egypt where he was welcomed as a liberator (from the Persians). In Egypt he visited the temple of Amun where the priests gave honour to him as a god.

In 332-331 BC, in Egypt, he founded the future big cultural Hellenistic centre – Alexandria. Then he started his victorious march to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Babylon, Susa and Persepolis and reached the Indus River. He defeated the Indian king Porus in 326 BC, who later became his ally, and Alexander made him a satrap of India, then he set off with his army to the north-east.

Alexander of Macedon had to turn back due to the discontent and exhaustion of his army. He settled in Babylon where he died of fever later on.

During his marches Alexander of Macedon founded hundreds of new settlements that turned into important seats for distribution of the Hellenic culture. On the other hand, this culture was deeply influenced by the Eastern one, which led to the forming of the so called Hellenistic culture. The enormous empire, formed by Alexander’s marches, was not lasting because it comprised of economically and ethnically heterogeneous regions. After his death, his generals, the Diadochi, began long wars for the so called Alexander’s legacy. This led to the dissolution of his vast empire into numerous Hellenistic kingdoms. The most significant of them were these of the Seleucids in Syria, Ptolemies in Egypt and Antigonids in Macedonia and Hellas.

The Empire of Alexander the Great - map from Wikimedia